Warrington Central 6 Masterplan

The Warrington Central 6 Masterplan was a finalist in the 2021 RTPI Awards in the Excellence in Plan-making category and was officially published in early 2020.

A KMA-led team was commissioned in 2018 to undertake the project by the Warrington Central Area Renewal Board. The board were looking for an approach to masterplanning that was community driven and had a high degree of engagement. The challenge was to build interest, credibility, and some sense of ownership of the emerging strategy. We developed a methodology that had the community at the heart of the process. The masterplan had an inclusive co-production approach where the engagement process was as important as the final product.

KMA devised and led a year-long community and stakeholder engagement programme that addressed planning, development, housing, open space, transport, local facilities and health opportunities. The engagement process was broadly split into three stages, with each stage building on the previous one and informing the next one. This progressive conversation allowed people to see how their contributions helped build the plan. Overall, the engagement process involved the input of over 2600 people who gave the ideas contained in this masterplan document. KMA with the wider design team took all these ideas and curated and developed them into a deliverable project proposition which was then presented back to the public to affirm that it was correct.

The outcome of this collaborative work was a plan where communities could take action and responsibility for shaping and changing their places. This strategy document sits to serve these communities and empower them, as well as provide a framework for agencies, planners and placemakers to work from. The plan sets out a strategy, vision and principles that explain in an accessible way the benefits and how to read the plan.